Most Americans remain opposed to overturning the controversial Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which 40 years ago legalized abortion at least in the first three months of pregnancy, according to a poll released Wednesday.

The poll by the Pew Research Center found that 63 percent of Americans believe that Roe v. Wade should not be completely overturned, compared to 29 percent who believe it should be. These opinions have changed little from surveys conducted in 2003 and 1992, Pew reported.

“They really haven’t changed a lot over the years which is kind of interesting because a lot of other social issues have changed a lot, gay marriage being the most notable example,” said Dimock.

He noted that opinions on issues such as gay marriage sometimes have a sharp generational divide, with younger people more likely to favor it, so national feelings change over time.

But the abortion issue shows only modest generational differences, and no gender gap.

Those most likely to favor upholding Roe v. Wade at 69 percent are the “baby boomers” aged 50-64, who were children or young adults when the case was decided on January 22, 1973. This group was followed by those 18-29 years old, who favored upholding the decision by 68 percent.

NARAL Pro-Choice America, a national abortion rights group, said the data confirms what NARAL has found in its own research.

“This poll is a reminder that the public clearly agrees, and has done so for decades,” said Tarek Rizek, communications director for NARAL.

Joseph Scheidler, prominent abortion opponent and national director of the Pro-Life Action League, said opinions about abortion have changed since 1973 because of advances like ultrasound, which allow a better understanding of fetal life.

“I don’t worry much about these polls…” said Scheidler. “I think a majority of Americans prefer to be called pro-life.” He said knocking down Roe v. Wade – which would return the issue to the states – is not as important as educating people on “the great evil” of abortion.

The Pew poll also found that 53 percent of the U.S. public say the issue of abortion is not that important compared to other issues – the first time that number has been over 50 percent. Dimock said this may reflect Americans’ current preoccupation with issues such as the national debt and gun control.

There are still wide religious differences over whether to overturn Roe v. Wade and the morality of abortion, the poll found. White evangelical Protestants are the only religious group in which a majority – 54 percent – favors overturning the decision.

U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops called for nine days of prayer and penance starting Saturday to mark the Roe v. Wade anniversary. In their press release, the bishops asked for prayers for “healing and conversion” for elected officials who support abortion and for all people whose lives have been affected by it.

The Pew poll also shows that 47 percent of Americans say they believe it is morally wrong to have an abortion. These opinions have changed only modestly in recent years.

Younger people are less likely to know what Roe v. Wade was about. While most respondents over 30 knew Roe v. Wade dealt with abortion, only 44 percent of those under 30 knew this, the poll found. The question over whether the decision should be overturned was asked after it was defined to respondents.

The poll was based on interviews with a national sample of 1,502 adults, aged 18 or over, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Full results of the poll can be seen here: http://www.pewforum.org/Abortion/roe-v-wade-at-40.aspx
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The anti-choice zealots could care less what Americans, especially what American women want in this regard. They will press on until they get what they want and then they will lock up and persecute whomever defies them. They have little regard for anyone else’s religious or moral beliefs and are very out front about it. Once they’ve managed to ban Abortion they will immediately move to have all contraception banned as well. They’re goals have nothing to do with saving the lives of unborn children , never has. It’s all about having total control of women and men’s sexual lives and the choices they make in that regard.

The world of American culture is based on giving all citizens the choice of how we choose to live. There is no standard religion at our disposal and all Americans can choose to believe in any God or none. The next most important choice we make is whether we choose to carry an unwanted fetus or abort it. This is not the only choice women can make and in order to build a family, we can choose to do it as single women or married women.

The first choice guides us into following or ignoring all other choices. The most frightening thing occurs when the government steps in and removes our individual choices and immediately women are cast as evil women and often as whores.

I went over all these choices to my girls and we discussed the labeling that would be affixed to them as individuals based on their choice of actions. My girls decided not to breed any children and based on the over-crowding in the schools I believe they made wise choices. We have an inherited retina problem and it was wise to keep this from being passed on to other members of the family.

According to the article above, it would appear that few Americans are able to make an intelligent choice and would rather leave it to finding themselves in trouble and then trapped. This may be the result of the churches banning abortions and that would cast more labels on the women.

It is my hope that women would grow up and face the results of making a bad choice.

U.S. Roman Catholic Bishops called for nine years of prayer and penance starting Saturday to mark the anniversary of the trial of Galileo Galilei. In their press release, the bishops asked for prayers for “healing and conversion” for elected officials who support heliocentrism and for all people whose lives have been affected by it (for the better).